Heebeet i



(No Model.) I

H. I. GOULD.

. HOOP SKIRT. No. 290,676. Patented Dec. 25, 1883.

fittest WE TATES HERBERT I. GOULD, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLA ND.

HOOP-SKIRT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,676, dated December25, 18.53.

Application filed July 27, 1883. (No model.)

T 0 all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, HERBERT I. GOULD, of the city and county ofProvidence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Hoop-Skirts; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnishedand'forming apart of the same, is a clear, true, and completedescription of my invention.

My saidimprovements relate to that class of hoop-skirts which haverearward extensions for supporting the panniers and trails of dresses.Heretofore, so far as my knowledge extends, the ribs of said rearwardextensions have been formed of short lengths of hoop material, fastenedat each end to the opposite sides of a hoop; and the objects of myinvention are to economize in construction by obviating the labor ofmaking said connections, and also to obviate the wear of adjacentclothing, which is incident to contact with the fast ening-clasps usedin making the connections and contact with the butts or ends of saidribs adjacent to said clasps, and, still further, to obtain equally goodand generally better results by employing less hoop material, not onlyeconomizing therein, but producing a lighter skirt, and one having apractical uniform resiliency or springiness throughout its main portion.To these ends I have for the first time, as I believe, devised a skirthaving a rearward extension in which hoops of different sizes alternatewith each other, so that one set of hoops serve solely as parts of themain skirt, and the other set serve not only as parts of the main skirtbut also form the rearward extension, and therefore one kind of skirtmade in accordance with one feature of my invention need have but onebinding or fastening clasp for each hoop, and in proportion as otherfeatures of my invention be employed can the binding clamps or fastenersbe lessened, and when my complete invention is employed an entire skirtcan be formed with no more than three binding-clasps for fastening theends I of the hoops. In other words, I make a hoop-skirt with all ormost of its hoops for forming the main portion of the skirt and also itsrearward extensions of a continuous length of hoop material laidspirally in different diameters to form rear extensions, with alternating coils or hoops, and therefore but two binding-clasps for the hoop endsare required one near the bottom of the skirt for one end of saidmaterial, and the other near the top for the opposite end.

To more particularly set forth my invention, I will describe the skirtsillustrated in the drawings, and thereafter in the several claimsannexed specify the features deemed novel by me.

Figure 1 illustrates in side view a skirt embodying the several featuresof my invention in their best form. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a skirtembodying the alternating hoops of different sizes in accordance withone feature of my invention. Fig. 3 is a top view of a main hoop and anextension-hoop composed of a single length of material in accordancewith one feature of my invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that my improved skirt comprisesthe main body A and a rearward extension, B; and it is to be understoodthat although all ofthe hoops above the bottom hoop, a, (and this mightbe included), are composed of a continuous length of hoop material, eachspiral coil constitutes, in substance, a hoop, and it will be seen thatevery other coil constitutes a main hoop, b, and that the alternatecoils constitute, in part, a main hoop and in part a rear-extensionhoop, c, which is larger than the adjacent hoops b. This alternating ofhoops of different sizes to form the rearward extension, B, of the mainportion A of a skirt constitutes one feature of my invention, whetherall the hoops be formed of one continuous length of hoop material; or,as in Fig. 2, said hoops b and c are separately formed and of separatelengths of material. The use of the continuous length of hoop material,as in Fig. 1, however, enables the production of a better skirt, andinvolves much less material and labor than any other known to meotherwise corresponding in the number of hoops and the character ofmaterial.

It is obvious that many of the prime advantages of my invention willaccrue if two lengths of hoop material be employed, each arrangedspirally, and one serving to form the hoops wholly for the main skirtand the other to form the hoops partially for the main skirt and alsofor the rearward extension.

also for the rear extension thereof, or having one or two lengths servefor both classes of hoop throughout the skirt, as described, it isobvious that two or three, as well as more, of said hoops can be formedof a continuous length of material in accordance with my invention, andthat substantial. economy will accrue when compared with the making of amain hoop of one length and the rear extension of a shorter lengthapplied thereto by two end clamps, and requiring also a third clamp forconnecting the two ends of the main hoop, as heretofore.

In the skirt shown in Fig. 1 the extra pannier-support C may beconstructed in the usual manner, as it forms no part of my presentinvention, the usual open top at the front of the skirt above the mainhoops precluding the use of complete hoops at that point. When theextrapannier-supportisnotemployed,therearward extension B serves both asa pannier and trail support; and it is obvious that the vertical outlineof said rearward extension may be indefinitely varied without departurefrom my invention.

It is not to be understood that I broadly claim as my invention theemployment of hoop material in a continuous length in the constructionof ordinary hoop-skirts which have no rearward extensions, as myimprovements are limited to that particular class of skirts containinghoops which constitute the main body of the skirt, and other hoops orparts of hoops which constitute rearward extensions thereof, as isclearly indicated in my drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a hoop-skirt having a main body and a rearwardextension, the combination of one or more main hoops and one or morerearwardextension hoops, composed of a single length of hoop material,substantially as described.

2. In a hoop-skirt provided with a rearward extension, the combinationof hoops of different sizes, alternating with" each other, substantiallyas described, whereby all the hoops serve for the main portion or bodyof the skirt, and the alternate larger hoops serve to form the rearwardextension, as set forth.

3. A hoop-skirt having a main body and a rearward extension, embodying aseries of hoops of different sizes composed of a continuous length ofhoop material, substantially as described.

HERBERT I. GOULD.

lVitnesses:

H. A. RANDALL, HOWARD E. THOMPSON.

